Is Baker's cyst a risk factor for pulmonary embolism?

Acute Pulmonary Embolism Following Baker's Cyst Excision - A Life Threatening Complication: A Case Report

A 55-year-old women was diagnosed with Baker's cyst and underwent open Baker's cyst excision. She had developed acute pulmonary embolism in the post-operative period. Our case report is to emphasise the sub-clinical concomitant deep vein thrombosis with Baker's cyst. Such a fatal complication has not been reported in literature and preventive measures of pre-operative venous Doppler and post-operative thrombo-prophylaxis can prevent them.

Popliteal cysts are not a risk factor for lower extremity deep vein thrombosis

BACKGROUND

Popliteal cysts (PC) result from distension of the gastrocnemio-semimembranosous bursa. Published reports indicate coincident PC and deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Whether the presence of PC increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) remains unclear.

METHODS

Lower extremity venous Duplex ultrasound (DUS) reports were evaluated across the Mayo Clinic Enterprise (Rochester, Minnesota, Jacksonville, Florida, Scottsdale, Arizona, and the Mayo Clinic Health System) in patients ≥ 18 years of age. Natural language processing (NLP) algorithms were created and validated to identify acute lower extremity DVT and PC from these reports. To determine whether there is a link between PC and lower extremity DVT, the frequency of PC among cases (ultrasounds with acute DVT) were compared to controls (ultrasounds without acute DVT).

RESULTS

A total of 357,703 lower extremities venous DUS were performed in 237,052 patients (mean age 63.3 ± 16.6, 54.4% were female) between 1992 and 2021. Acute DVT was identified in 32,572 (9.1%) DUS, and PC in 32,448 (9.1%). PC were seen in a lower frequency (8.0%) of ultrasounds with acute DVT than those without (9.2%) acute DVT (OR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.82 to 0.89, p < 0.001). In a multivariate logistic regression model after adjusting for age, sex, and race, PCs were not positively associated with acute DVT (adjusted OR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.81 to 0.88).

CONCLUSIONS

PC are an incidental finding or an alternative diagnosis on lower extremity venous DUS, a finding that increases significantly with age. PC were not a risk factor in the development of lower extremity DVT.

Baker's Cyst: Diagnostic and Surgical Considerations

Context:

Popliteal synovial cysts, also known as Baker’s cysts, are commonly found in association with intra-articular knee disorders, such as osteoarthritis and meniscus tears. Histologically, the cyst walls resemble synovial tissue with fibrosis evident, and there may be chronic nonspecific inflammation present. Osteocartilaginous loose bodies may also be found within the cyst, even if they are not seen in the knee joint. Baker’s cysts can be a source of posterior knee pain that persists despite surgical treatment of the intra-articular lesion, and they are routinely discovered on magnetic resonance imaging scans of the symptomatic knee. Symptoms related to a popliteal cyst origin are infrequent and may be related to size.

Evidence Acquisition:

A PubMed search was conducted with keywords related to the history, diagnosis, and treatment of Baker’s cysts—namely, Baker’s cyst, popliteal cyst, diagnosis, treatment, formation of popliteal cyst, surgical indications, and complications. Bibliographies from these references were also reviewed to identify related and pertinent literature.

Study Design:

Clinical review.

Level of Evidence:

Level 4.

Results:

Baker’s cysts are commonly found associated with intra-articular knee disorders. Proper diagnosis, examination, and treatment are paramount in alleviating the pain and discomfort associated with Baker’s cysts.

Conclusion:

A capsular opening to the semimembranosus–medial head gastrocnemius bursa is a commonly found normal anatomic variant. It is thought that this can lead to the formation of a popliteal cyst in the presence of chronic knee effusions as a result of intra-articular pathology. Management of symptomatic popliteal cysts is conservative. The intra-articular pathology should be first addressed by arthroscopy. If surgical excision later becomes necessary, a limited posteromedial approach is often employed. Other treatments, such as arthroscopic debridement and closure of the valvular mechanism, are not well studied and cannot yet be recommended.

Giant Synovial Cyst of the Anterior Compartment: An Unusual Cause of Chronic Knee Pain After Trauma

There is almost no literature describing the management and rationale for intervention for posttraumatic, extra-articular synovial cysts of the knee. We describe the very rare case of a 45-year-old blind man who developed chronic knee pain after a traumatic injury. He was found to have a giant, posttraumatic, true synovial cyst of the knee in an extra-articular location and migrating down the anterior compartment. The surgical management, potential complications, and rationale for intervention are discussed.